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Continuing its evolution as a premium video destination, YouTube has signed a licensing agreement with Paramount Pictures that will bring nearly 500 titles to YouTube and Google Play viewers in the United States and Canada. The titles will be added over the next few months, says Malik Ducard, YouTube's director of content partnerships, in a blog post.

Some of the titles are already available, and they're major hits. A 48-hour HD rental of Hugo goes for $4.99, while 48-hour rentals of Transformers, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, and The Godfather go for $3.99 each. Standard definition versions generally rent for a dollar less. Renters get 30 days to begin watching their selection, but then need to complete viewing in 48 hours.

While YouTube is still new to the movie rental business, notes Ducard, it now has titles from five of the six major studios, as well as content from over ten independent studios. Its total rental library has nearly 9,000 titles.

In October, 2011, Paramount signed a multi-year deal with Amazon-owned LoveFilm to provide streaming rights for its content, including first-run films, in Germany.